Couples on the rebound

Friday, Oct. 24, 1997 | 9:22 a.m.

It has been a difficult year for Fred Couples, both personally and professionally. There were times, he said, when he lost interest in golf and was "just going through the motions."

His father was battling leukemia and his girlfriend has breast cancer. The off-course distractions, combined with his troublesome back, limited the former Masters champion to only 14 tournaments coming into this week's Las Vegas Invitational.

Things are beginning to look up on all fronts for Couples, however, and he says he's here this week to just have fun. The relaxed attitude resulted in rounds of 66 Wednesday and 67 Thursday and Couples finds himself only five shots off the lead going into today's third round of the LVI.

"I feel good, yeah," said Couples, who in the past has bristled at questions regarding his back. "My big deal is can I do this every day? My back is good but sometimes it gets a little tired and gets tight. But when I'm on top of my game I can still get it around. When I'm not so good ... it's hard to knock the ball around the course when you don't feel good -- and that's the biggest problem.

"(This tournament) is five rounds. They're not the hardest courses in the world but you still have to hit the ball in play and that's what I've done so far. I'm kind of just going through the motions of getting ready for next year. It's more of a fun tournament, that's the way I look at it."

Couples said he didn't set any goals for himself this year other than to play more than he did last year when he made 18 starts.

"That was really not a goal, that was an idea and I didn't (play as much as I wanted) and that's a little disappointing," he said. "In reality, I spent a lot of time away from golf and haven't had a good time off the course with two people who were going through a bad time.

"What I'm trying to do next year is really come out with a little bit of a different frame of mind. I got out there this year a lot of times and I wasn't playing as well as I would have liked and basically I just got it around. I just couldn't get out of that rut."

It didn't get much better during the second half of the year.

"The second half of the year was kind of a waste of time," Couples said. "I was making every cut and killing myself on Saturday and Sunday trying to finish. I want to get through November and December ... and I need to come out and be a little better next year, kind of like I was this year.

"This year, I started out great but it was just downhill after Augusta, I kind of packed it in and started taking a lot of time off."

* FRYATT REBOUNDS: Former UNLV All-American Edward Fryatt bounced back from what he called a disappointing 69 Wednesday at the Desert Inn Golf Club and shot a 5-under-par 67 Thursday at the Las Vegas Country Club. "It was a good score but it could have been a lot better," Fryatt said. "I shot even par on my front nine and let every opportunity slip away." After playing the back nine in even par, Fryatt shot a 5-under 31 on the front nine at LVCC. "I hit a good drive on nine -- I hit a 6-iron from 196 yards and flagged it all the way back there and had about a 30-footer for eagle. I just missed my eagle putt, which would have been the icing, but I was happy to get birdie out of there. I tapped in for birdie and a 67 when that round looked like it was going to be disaster for a second there. One or two bad shots and I'm shooting over par and now I'm not even thinking about the cut." Fryatt was tied with eight other golfers at 8-under 136 going into today's third round at the TPC at Summerlin -- a course with which he is very familiar. "It's kind of tough because I play out here so much and you're expecting so much," the Las Vegas resident said. "I'm just going to try to play it just like it was any other tournament, a course that I haven't played, and think about each shot as it comes along. With a good round (today) and if the wind stays down, we'll try to get into contention."

* GAMEZ STUMBLES: Las Vegas native Robert Gamez posted one of the highest rounds of the day, a 78 at the Desert Inn, and fell to 2 over par for the tournament. Gamez, who is battling a cold and a hand injury this week, likely will miss the cut in his hometown tournament for the third year in a row. The cut in last year's tournament was 8 under par after 54 holes.

* OTHER LOCALS: Fryatt isn't the only former UNLV golfer who can play himself into contention for the title this week. Skip Kendall, a 1987 graduate of UNLV, was tied with 12 other players at 7-under 137 going into today's third round. St. George, Utah, resident Jay Don Blake also was tied at 7 under and Bishop Gorman grad Tommy Armour III was 10 shots off the pace at 6-under 138.